This invention relates to aircraft wheel assemblies and more particularly to a new and improved aircraft wheel structure that has a rim profile that improves performance of the tire thereon while maintaining its lightweight structure.
In the mounting of a pneumatic tire on a wheel of an aircraft, it is essential to provide a lightweight wheel assembly to minimize overall weight but it is also necessary to provide a wheel structure that has the ability to withstand the tremendous impact forces encountered when the supporting aircraft lands onto a runway. As aircraft get larger and larger in load carrying capacity, the impact forces cause increased deflection and wheel flange loading and it is necessary to provide an overload safety factor in their design to assure a safe landing under variable conditions of load and overload as where the approaching aircraft comes in at a steep angle or on one side of the supporting boogie wheels, which touch ground before the adjacent wheels due to unusual weather and wind conditions. The wheel base and the side rim members must absorb these impact forces. The present invention is directed to an improvement in design of the respective flanges on the wheel base and flange rim members (inboard and outboard rim flanges) to better absorb the impact forces transmitted by the pneumatic tire to the aircraft wheel to assure improved performance under adverse landing conditions or under conditions wherein other tires on the same landing gear may experience blow out, thereby sharply increasing loadings on remaining inflated tires and their respective wheels.